Month: March 2017

The law of demand and it’s application The law of demand and it’s application to fundamental analysis of commodities rests upon an understanding of consumer behavior. The factors which characterize consumer choice and how the market place reflects individual consumer responses are key components of this economic theory. Understanding what factors have affected demand in the past will help to develop expectations about demand in the future and its impact on market price. Demand for a particular product or service represents how much people are willing to purchase at various prices.…

What are gaps and what do they mean? Have you ever wondered what causes gaps in price charts and what they mean? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Just in case, a gap is an area on a price chart in which there were no trades. Normally this occurs between the close of the market on one day and the next day’s open. Lot’s of things can cause this, such as an earnings report coming out after the stock market has closed for the day. If the earnings were…

This trio of longtime dividend payers is offering up tasty yields, but are they good deals? A dividend yield alone doesn’t tell you the full story. But when you see reliable longtime dividend-paying companies like ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Helmerich & Payne, Inc.(NYSE:HP) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) offering up yields near the high end of their historical yield ranges, it’s time to do a deep dive. The real question investors need to ask is: Are the big yields a real bargain? Pain in the oil patch The situations at Exxon and Helmerich both have the same root cause:…

Bulls, Bears and the Farm On Wall Street, the bulls and bears are in a constant struggle. If you haven’t heard of these terms already, you undoubtedly will as you begin to invest. The Bulls A bull market is when everything in the economy is great, people are finding jobs, gross domestic product (GDP) is growing, and stocks are rising. Things are just plain rosy! Picking stocks during a bull market is easier because everything is going up. Bull markets cannot last forever though, and sometimes they can lead to dangerous situations if stocks become overvalued. If a…